Mathews Schools Gear Up For Security Crackdown

In the wake of the recent mass killing at Virginia Tech, Mathews County's School Board has hired a legendary firm to revamp school security procedures.

David Holleran, Mathews County schools superintendent, said about $10,000 was invested for Pinkerton Government Services to perform a "top-to-bottom" review of safety measures and recommend changes to current policies.

A representative of the Northern Virginia company, which specializes in school safety issues, will perform the on-site audit June 11-13, Holleran said.

The Pinkerton agency was founded in 1850 and has a nearly mythical history of Civil War spy vs. spy subterfuge and epic battles with notorious bank robbers dating to the Wild West era.

Today, the company has a sprawling business providing "solutions to ensure the safety and security of the assets of the U.S. Government and government contractor organizations worldwide," according to its Web site.

On June 13, the Pinkerton agent will meet with parents and school system faculty to discuss security concerns.

The meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. at Thomas Hunter Middle School.

Holleran said he hopes the consultant's report will be finished by June 25 so changes can be implemented before the next school year starts.

"We're hoping to put something in place that small schools can look at and have as a model to go by," Holleran said. "We're looking at this from the standpoint that we don't have a lot of time. We have to move quick."

Holleran said the issue was raised during a board discussion that occurred after the April 16 Virginia Tech massacre in Blacksburg, where an armed student killed 27 other students and five faculty members before taking his own life.

"This Hokie thing is a wake-up call," said Holleran, who received his doctorate from Virginia Tech in 1997.

"With these things, there is a big hurrah and sad feelings and then it goes away until it happens again," he said.

"We aren't going to let this one go by without attempting to help our kids."

Holleran said several committees that comprise school, county and sheriff's office officials are already being used to identify and address possible safety threats.

Grant money is also being used to implement a bullying prevention program at Thomas Hunter Middle School, he said.

Holleran said he would like to increase the visibility of armed resource officers and improve entrance and exit security.

Other improvements could include Web-based in-school security cameras and high-tech efforts to streamline and better coordinate emergency responses.

"Is it going to be flight or hunker down?" Holleran said. "The more we can do to take the thought process out of teachers' hands, the quicker we can have the kids in a safer situation." *